Sorry I haven't posted lately, I've just been quite busy. Here's chapter ten and tomorrow I will post another chapter to make up for the absence. So, enjoy!

Chapter 10

Time seemed to pass much slower than it usually did. Daniel began walking around the room again, with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He didn't talk, only stopped sometimes to check if Teal'c was still watching the forest. Every time he looked at the Jaffa, he saw him standing still in the same spot, spying the trees across the clearing. Daniel couldn't imagine how Teal'c could be so calm or if he wasn't, how he could hide it that well. His face was still every time Daniel looked at him.

Sam was sitting at the dining table, lost in her thoughts. She tried to talk to Daniel and tell him to calm down but after the fourth attempt she had to admit there was no use. She could understand him though. Having lost somebody that was close to your heart was quite familiar to her. When his father passed away, it was one of the hardest times of her life. Though losing a father wasn't quite the same Daniel was going through, Sam was close to loose Jack so many times so she knew perfectly what Daniel was possibly feeling. When Jack got hit by a staff weapon on the battlefield, she thought she had lost him forever. When she remembered the huge pain and loss she felt then, like her life wasn't going to be the same again, like she had lost someone who she could not have lived without, she truly felt sorry for Daniel.

'Check.' Cameron broke the silence as he moved his rook across the chessboard.

'Dang,' was Jack's response after he had made sure his king was in check. He kept playing with his removed knight as he considered his next move. Though he didn't quite like chess he wasn't that bad at it as he first had thought.

'How long have you been playing?' Sam asked as she turned in the boys' direction.

'Not sure. Fifth or sixth game.' Jack answered without looking away from his pieces. He sighed after considering his possible moves, and then moved his bishop in between Cameron's rook and his king.

Sam didn't answer but kept watching Jack and Cameron.

'I thought you were gonna make that move.' Cameron told Jack with a triumphant smile on his face.

He reached for his queen and moved it so that it faced Jack's king. 'Checkmate.'

Jack wanted to find a way to avoid Cameron's attack but with no success. He let out a disappointed sigh and knocked down his king.

'Three-three.' Cameron told him the score.

'That's a friendly draw. I think it would be just perfect to leave the game now.' Jack suggested. He tried to tell Cameron in a polite way that he had enough of chess. Maybe he wasn't that good as he thought.

They both stood of from the coffee table and while Cameron walked to Sam, Jack headed outside the house.

'How are you feeling?' Sam asked after Cameron had sat down beside her.

'Good. Little dizzy but other than that I'm feeling perfect.'

'That's good.' Sam replied. She didn't know what to say to that other than 'that's good.'

'I think we should talk to Jackson.' Cameron told Sam quietly, careful to not let Daniel hear him.

'I don't think it would help him much.' She answered without any emotion in her voice.

'Do you really think that?' Cameron could see that Sam's thoughts were somewhere else.

She didn't answer.

'Sam?'

She looked at Cameron, 'No, you're right. You should talk to Daniel.'

'What about you?' He asked.

Sam waited for some seconds, thinking over what she was planning to do but finally she said, 'I'm going to go outside for some fresh air.'

Cameron knew what Sam was about to do and why. He wasn't the person to hold her up so he nodded in agreement. Sam stood up from the table and headed for the door while Cameron made his way to Daniel.

oOo

The clearing was quiet as Sam left the house. She couldn't hear noises around her, not even from the forest. Everything seemed peaceful, even the clouds had disappeared from the sky which was now showing its usual light blue color. Sam was looking for Jack but at first she couldn't find him. She thought he would be standing on the porch but it was empty, Sam was standing alone. For a moment she became frightened thinking of what could possibly have happened, worst case scenario. She was thinking of telling the others Jack was in trouble when she finally discovered footprints in the snow leading away from the porch. Sam relaxed as she realized they were left by Jack's boots.

Sam considered her choices making sure it wasn't better to just go back inside and wait for Jack to return. Finally she sighed as to exorcize nervousness from inside her and walked down the small stairs into the snow and followed the footprints leading in the direction of the frozen pond.

After she had taken a few steps she could see Jack's silhouette a couple dozen feet in front of her. He was standing still with his hands in his pockets, not realizing that someone was coming towards him. As Sam reached the pond she stopped next to

Jack and looked up at him without saying a word. She could see him staring at the pond, lost in his thoughts. Sam was sure he had noticed her and he just didn't want to talk.

For a minute they stood in silence side by side then finally Sam spoke.

'What's on your mind?' She left the sir purposefully, trying not to make the conversation look like it was going on between two officers but two friends.

Jack answered with his gaze still fixed on the glittering ice. 'I remember when you first entered the briefing room, introducing yourself as Captain Samantha Carter.'

She could help but smile as she recalled the memory.

'Yeah, totally embarrassing myself in that half hour or so.' She added.

'It wasn't that bad.' Jack said this time looking at her.

'Yes, it was.' She answered letting Jack know there was no use denying the truth.

'Yeah, it really was.' Jack answered after a short pause. 'But I knew from the first moment how brilliant you were.' He quickly added.

'Thank you.' Sam said still smiling then again, silence fell on the area.

They were both gazing the pond when this time Jack broke the silence.

'Eight long years we have served together. I watched you become Major from Captain and then Lieutenant Colonel from Major under my command. From the first day I have been proud of Sam Carter. And with every achievement, every promotion that pride grew stronger in me. It was a hard time for me to quit SG-1 but I knew that you would take good care of the team. That they would have an excellent CO and you have proven me right.' Sam waited for Jack to continue but after the general fell silent, she knew that was it. Every word Jack said just fed the love for him that was in Sam's heart.

'Thank you, Jack.'
Jack heard Sam calling him by his first name but it just didn't seem to be as important as anything else right now.

'I miss the team.' Jack sighed.

Sam smiled sympathetically but Jack wasn't looking at her. 'And the team misses you. At least I know I do.'

Jack looked into her blue eyes and smiled, but no word left his mouth. She could feel the warmth fill her body as she looked back at him and for a moment she didn't feel the cold of the air.

'Yeah.' Jack muttered imperceptibly and turned back towards the pond.

'But hey, this holiday is a perfect opportunity for a reunion.' Sam said enthusiastically, trying to keep the conversation going.

'I wouldn't say perfect.' Jack snarled, thinking of the wolf-wraith hybrids hunting for them.

'Yeah, well, we can get this over with quickly and spend the rest of the holidays without worrying about anything.' Sam said confidently but her own words didn't convince herself.

Jack was hoping Sam's plan was going to work but by nature he always dealt with the worst possible outcome.

'We can still make this perfect.' Sam added when she saw the uncertainty on Jack's face. She looked up at the man next to her, hoping that he got her message.

He looked back at her, their eyes met and both of them knew they had the same feelings.

'Can we?' Jack asked softly and his tone told Sam that he understood her hint.

'Six years ago, I locked a part of me in that very room. A huge part of me, without which I can't be myself; a part of me that made me whole. First I thought it was going to get easier as time passed but it only became harder day by day. I couldn't keep that part of me locked away anymore. I let it out a long time ago, hoping that one day the desires would be satisfied and I know that even for a short time, this holiday could give me what I've been waiting for over ten years now.' Her voice was full of emotion as she spoke and Jack knew she let out almost everything she had been keeping inside of her for god knew how long.

'Sam, I…' He started but fell silent as he couldn't find the words to say. He wasn't that deep kind of person and he knew that. He wanted to tell her how he felt, that she wasn't the only one to keep feelings inside but he knew that would only make things worse.

Jack saw tears appearing in her eyes as she was waiting for him to say something. She opened up to him and the least he could have done was doing the same to her, but he felt too weak to even let out a breath.

'Please, Jack, tell me I wasn't hoping for something that didn't have a chance to happen.' Her voice trembled at the last word. The first teardrop ran down her face but she didn't care to wipe it away. 'Please.' Her tone was begging and Jack's heart almost broke seeing Sam Carter this fragile, this weak.

Jack could see the second teardrop follow the first and he reached out and gently wiped it away. He kept his hand touching her face and Sam lifted her own and laid it on Jack's. She didn't have to hear it to know what Jack felt.

'There's always hope.' Jack said almost whispering with a small but warm smile on his face.

Sam returned his smile and for a moment she felt like everything was going to be perfect. Though Jack didn't say anything exact he made sure there was hope.

'Jack!' They heard Daniel's voice calling from the house.

The moment ended and they both had to return to reality. Jack slowly moved his hand away from Sam's face and turned in the direction of the house. 'What?' He shouted a bit angrily.

'General Landry on the phone. He wants to talk to you.' Daniel answered loudly so that Jack could hear it.

'A minute!' Jack turned back to Sam who was looking at the snow in front of her. 'There's always hope. Don't ever forget that.'

With that he started jogging towards the house trying to make Landry wait as little as possible. Sam watched as the general got farther then she slowly walked back to the house following Jack.

oOo

'Yeah.' Jack said as he took the phone from Daniel.

'Jack, how are things going?' Landry asked when he heard the familiar voice.

'They aren't going. Things are standing still around us.' Jack asked with the usual O'Neill sarcasm.

'Yeah, well, I've got a team together. They just left so they should be arriving in an hour or so.' Hank Landry informed the other general.

'Really? That's nice.'

'Jack, I know you're upset but a little more patience please.'

'Right. One of my people is taken by half wolf, half wraith creatures and I'm doing nothing but sitting around waiting for help to arrive. I think my nervousness is understandable.' Jack replied angrily.

'Wraith, you said?' Landry asked surprised, waiting for affirmation.

'That's right.' Jack confirmed.

'That's a huge problem. But how did they get there?'

'I don't know anything about them. We haven't seen any actual wraith yet, only these hybrid things.' Jack explained.

'I see. Well, Major Lorne will be there in an hour as I previously told you so you don't have to wait that long.'

'Understood.' Jack said briefly. He was about to hung up when he could hear Landry's voice again.

'And Jack, you take Vala home.'

'Yes, sir.' He answered and hung up.

oOo

'What'd he say?' Cameron asked as Jack put down the phone on the coffee table.

'Another hour and they'll be here.' Jack answered this time without any emotion in his voice.

'Vala Mal Doran may not have that much time.' Teal'c pointed out as he slowly walked to the couch from the window.

'Wow, Teal'c. I almost forgot you speak.' Jack said, meaning that he barely heard Teal'c speak since Vala had been taken. Not that he was a talkative person but this was unusual even from him.

'I am most concerned about Vala Mal Doran. Forgive me if I do not speak too much.' Teal'c apologized.

'Yeah, well, there's nothing much to say anyway.'

'Who are they sending?' Daniel asked this time. He had taken Teal'c's place at the window and now he was the one spying the woods.

'Major Lorne.' Jack gave him the answer.

'So another hour.' Daniel muttered to himself.

Sam walked over to Daniel and laid her hand on his shoulder. 'We're going to find her.'

Daniel looked at her and when he saw Sam's reassuring smile he said, 'Yes, we are.'

'I've worked with Major Lorne. He does his work very well. That's why General Landry sent him.' Sam said.

'Yes, I'm sure he does.' Daniel answered simply.

Sam thought it would be better to leave Daniel alone so she sent one last friendly smile to him and walked away from the window.

'I'm hungry, guys.' Jack suddenly said and walked into the kitchen to get some food.

'He can't take things seriously, can he?' Cameron asked Sam careful not to let Jack hear them.

'This is Jack O'Neill.' Sam said eloquently.

'That explains it.' Cameron replied and watched as Jack took a plate with him to the table and started eating.

'Yes, it does.' Sam replied. She was looking at the general as well, thinking about their conversation earlier.

She then looked at Daniel who was still looking out the window with a dark expression on his face. Sam was sure they would do everything they could to find Vala and after that kill every hybrid in the forest.

Jack's last words echoed in her head.

There's always hope.

~TBC